Vulcan history
]] The History of the Vulcans has been a long journey from the ancient civil wars that nearly destroyed Vulcan, to their embracing of logic through the teachings of Surak. Origins Evidence was discovered in 2369 that suggests that many of the galaxy's humanoid races were descended from a single humanoid race, the originators of the form, who had seeded many worlds with DNA sequences. Related species, such as the offshoot Romulans, displayed evidence of these DNA sequences which may imply the Vulcans were descended from them as well. ( ) Another possibility came to light in 2268 with the discovery of Sargon and his people. When Sargon explained that his people colonized many worlds in the galaxy, Spock theorized that the Vulcans may have been descended from his people, as his story shared noticeable similarities to Vulcan history. ( ) :If this is in fact true, the extraordinary mental powers of Sargon's people may be the origins of Vulcan telepathy, as well as other aspects of "Vulcan mysticism." Vulcan mythology, however, stated that all creation arose from a "Garden of Eden"-like place known as Sha Ka Ree. ( ) Ancient History Although Vulcan civilization goes back much farther than that of Humans for example, there are still many gaps in Vulcan prehistory. Such as the Obelisks of ancient Vulcan, which were lost for many years but were an important archaeological discovery when they were finally excavated. ( ; ) Vulcans have been capable of space travel since at least the 9th century BC, when the P'Jem monastery was founded on another world for religious purposes. ( ) As far back as Vulcan memory goes, they have never been conquered. Memory goes back so far that Vulcans can not conceive of a conqueror. ( ) These early Vulcans followed a pagan religion with many gods, including gods of war, death and peace. They celebrated many religious holidays as well, such as Rumarie. ( ) Some rituals such as the Vulcan wedding ceremony have remained unchanged from the "time of the beginning." ( ) :The year given while Spock is in the past on Vulcan in is "8877", while the year in Human standard is 2237. Therefore its possible some important event happened on Vulcan in 6640 BC, at which point their year system "started." Time of Awakening :For main article, see: Time of Awakening By the 4th century BC, Vulcan was tearing itself apart. Their rampant emotions combined with a hostile warrior culture led to many wars using atomic weapons. But out of this came a philosopher named Surak, who would propose leading a life governed by logic rather than emotion. His teachings quickly spread, and Vulcan finally began a shift towards peace. One group still opposed allowing logic to govern their lives. "Those who marched beneath the Raptor's wings", as Surak called them, fought a final war with the rest of Vulcan, and in the end was forced to leave the planet. Surak himself would later die of radiation sickness on Mount Seleya, which would one day become one of the most important religious temples on Vulcan. ( ) 21st century In 2063, the Vulcans were the first to make formal contact with the Human race. An alliance that would last for over centuries was formed between the two worlds, though the Vulcans initially refused to share advanced warp technology with the Humans. Almost a century after first contact, Earth was able to launch its first warp 5 starship, the ''Enterprise'' NX-01. ( ; ) 22nd century By the mid-22nd century, Vulcan was a regional power in the Alpha Quadrant. The Vulcan High Command engaged in conflicts with the neighboring Andorians, and also used its influence to slow Earth's technological development. At some point prior to 2151, the Vulcans built a monitoring station beneath the ancient monastery at P'Jem, for the purpose of spying on the Andorians. In 2151, the listening station was discovered by the human starship captain Jonathan Archer and the Andorian Shran. ( ) Shortly thereafter, the monastery was destroyed by Andorian orbital bombardment. This caused turmoil and upheaval on Vulcan, including the dismissal of the First Minister. ( ) Vulcan reformation :For main article, see: Vulcan Reformation Subsequent to this crisis, the High Command gained more control over civilian affairs. Under the leadership of Administrator V'Las, the High Command persecuted the Syrrannite sect, which claimed that Vulcan no longer followed the true teachings of Surak. (Many of Surak's original writings had been lost in the centuries since the Time of Awakening.) In 2154, V'Las claimed to have proof that the Andorians were developing a superweapon based on Xindi technology, and planned to invade Andoria in order to preempt this threat. As these plans were developing, agents loyal to V'Las bombed Earth's embassy and framed the Syrrannite T'Pau for the act. Jonathan Archer, investigating the Syrrannites, was briefly joined with the katra of Surak, and re-discovered the Kir'Shara, an artifact containing the original writings of Surak. )]] Ambassador Soval and Commander Charles Tucker warned the Andorians of the planned invasion, and the Vulcan attack fleet lost the element of surprise. (See: Battle of Andoria) As the battle got underway, Archer and T'Pau brought the Kir'Shara into the High Command's headquarters, justifying the Syrranites' position and enabling Minister Kuvak to challenge V'Las's increasingly illogical behavior. In short order, the attack on Andoria was canceled, V'Las deposed, and the High Command disbanded. Kuvak and T'Pau formed a new transitional government which promised to pursue peaceful policies, and also to end its restrictions on Earth's technological development and expansion. ( ) The Federation The years following the Vulcan reformation also saw the Vulcans being one of the leading members of the Coalition of Planets, an alliance which included friends such as Earth as well as long-time rivals such as the Andorians. This alliance would lead Vulcan to be one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets in 2161. ( ; ) :A newspaper article (It's Federation Day!) in the Picard family album created for ''Star Trek: Generations suggests that a Representative T'Jan was the Vulcan at the forming of the Federation, though the clipping wasn't seen on screen and isn't considered canon.'' :The apocryphal novel "Last Full Measure" suggests that the Vulcan signers of the Federation Charter are Soval, T'Pau and Solkar. 23rd century By the 23rd century, Vulcans were one of the more active members of the Federation. Personifying this was Ambassador Sarek, whose quick and logical responses during debates (such as with Tellarite Ambassador Gav) brought him recognition. He was even asked to come out of retirement to represent Vulcan at the Babel Conference. He later served as a personal advisor to the Federation President, and was involved in the Khitomer Accords. ( ; ) On a less than positive light, by then some saw the Vulcans as the "intellectual puppets of the Federation" as the Klingon Ambassador put it while arguing before the Federation Council. ( ) :The non-canon ''Starfleet Operations Manual goes so far as to suggest that the Vulcans were so well trusted by other Federation members that some less-diplomatic species such as the Zaldans elected Vulcan Federation Councillors to represent their interests rather than a member of their own species.'' Romulan Invasion attempts The Romulans have attempted to invade, subvert, and/or gain control of the Vulcan government on at least three occasions. One attempt was during a 100-year war between the two powers sparked by the actions of a renegade Q. ( ) Another occurred in the 22nd century, during a time of political and social upheaval in Vulcan society that ended in the Vulcan Reformation. Administrator V'Las, who was either a Romulan or a Romulan sympathizer, attempted to wipe out the Syrrannite movement. His efforts were thwarted by Starfleet Captain Jonathan Archer, T'Pol, and T'Pau when they recovered and returned the Kir'Shara, which held the recordings of Surak's true teachings. ( ) :It is unknown if anyone ever discovered V'Las' true identity/allegiance. carrying Romulan soldiers, claiming to be a "peace envoy"]] In 2368 an attempt at a Vulcan Romulan reformation almost resulted in an invasion of Vulcan. If it has succeeded it would have been the first time in the collective history of Vulcan that they would have been invaded. It begun when Ambassador Spock went to Romulus with the intent of convincing the new Proconsul Neral convinced Spock he was ready to open formal relations with Vulcan. ( ) :Some fans have speculated that the Earth-Romulan War was sparked by yet another attempt by the Romulans to invade Vulcan, though there is no canon evidence of this. However, the name seems to imply the conflict was more focused on the relations between Romulus and Earth than Vulcan. History, Vulcan History, Vulcan